Is the MacBook Air This Road Warrior's Dream Machine?

With all of the articles popping up about the new MacBook Air, I thought that I, a longtime user and proponent of ultraportable laptops should chime in. Like most people writing about Apple's new silver sliver, I don't own one. However, unlike most of those complaining about its specs (or lack thereof), I have owned and lived ultraportables before and always own at least one (my current small machine is a used 1.0 GHz 12" PowerBook that was priced too low to ignore).

They Don't Get It

First, I'll say a few words about most other people's words on the MacBook Air: They don't get it!

Almost every reviewer has complained about the lack of an optical drive even while complementing Apple's Remote Disk technology. Of course there isn't a built-in optical disk: No ultraportable worthy of the name has one, and adding it detracts from the primary goals of such machines, which are small size and light weight.

The convenience of a built-in drive is well and good on a general use laptop, but on a machine designed for the busy run-around life of an ultraportable, it's just unwanted (and heavy) fluff.

The same applies to complaints about the MacBook Air using a slower processor, slow iPod hard drive, or lowbrow integrated graphics. Nobody is going to play Doom 3 on one of these (or at least won't buy it for that purpose), and a few extra seconds to render a photo or transfer a file really aren't that important in this market. What does matter, again, is small size and light weight.

Oh yeah, those same lowbrow components that make the machine smaller and lighter also help in the one performance specification that ultraportable buyers really do care about, and that's battery life. Apple claims 5 hours for the MacBook Air, which is the same as they claim for the regular MacBook. What isn't mentioned is the weight and capacity of the two machines' batteries. I would be willing to bet that the regular MacBook has a much beefier battery than the slower, more power-wise MacBook Air.

Ultraportables Are Not Desktop Replacements

Okay, so we are clear that the MacBook Air is not in any way designed for the desktop replacement or even general purpose laptop crowd, but for the frequent traveler. Now I won't go as far as some other reviewers who've said that the MacBook Air should be used as a supplement to a desktop Mac, but its designers and its target audience know that this is no multimedia powerhouse. It also is not an updated PowerBook Duo, as it has no real docking ability to speak of and lacks the muscle to replace a desktop even if it could dock.

So what is the MacBook Air then? Simple: It's Apple's version of the many other ultraportables on the market.

There are many machines in this class, and each manufacturer has its own design goals. I think that Sony was probably the first to try the MacBook Air's particular combination of semi-large screen, moderate performance and oh-so-thin-and-sexy style with the old Vaio Superslim 505 of the late 90s. These were mediocre performers, but they made such a high-tech styling statement that even Mac users of the time often envied their dimensions. Sure, we had the PowerBook 2400c, which was faster, but it was also 30% heavier and twice as thick, with a lower resolution screen of the same size.

Those old Vaio 505s really were that radical in 1998, just as the MacBook Air is that radical today.

Compromise

Ultraportables are inherently compromised machines, and each manufacturer makes different compromises. Obviously, different users care differently about what is missing, and that is why these high-priced, low-performing machines are available in so many very different form factors. Just look at some of the current PC ultraportables. These things range from tiny 7" screen wonders that run full versions of Vista, to cheap $300 machines that can (barely) run Windows XP to tablets and even 2 lb. wonders that make the MacBook Air feel overweight. Some are as fast as larger machines; others run 10 hours on their large battery packs.

The important thing is that none of them can do everything and still be small and light.

Do you want that fast processor? Great, kiss your battery life good-bye. Do you want a full size screen and keyboard? Cool, but it won't weigh 2 lb. or be the size of a paperback. Want it razor thin? You can have it, but kiss your big batteries good-bye.

The MacBook Air, as mentioned earlier, is just Apple's take on the compromises required.

Apple placed its emphasis on making the machine thin but did not emphasize making it small in other dimensions. Apple went for semi-long battery life, and with its thin design couldn't fit big batteries, so it specified low-power components and efficient LED backlighting. Apple emphasized an integrated, seamless appearance, so there are no docking connectors or extra ports.

It's not that they left off anything important or fall short of or trump the competition in any way, just that they looked at who they thought would buy it and designed what they thought this person would want.

Is the MacBook Right for Me?

So does it work for me? Clearly I haven't seen one in person yet, though I'm certain I will be wowed. Five hour battery life isn't enough for my annual trans-Pacific flight, but that is just one flight per year, so its not that big of a deal. I watch movies on my computer when I travel, but only on longer trips. Apple's external DVD is the perfect solution for my "occasional" drive needs. The performance is about right, as I've lived with slow-hard drives before (ThinkPad X41 also uses 1.8" drive) and lower processor speeds, and for anything other than cutting edge games and graphics-intensive work, which I do very little of, the MacBook Air would perform beautifully for me.

Actually, the sealed nature of the unit's battery is my only concern. I've read reports that users can fairly easily open the machine and replace it, but clearly it would still require tools and a clean space. I just don't know if I'm willing to make the leap to a machine without swappable batteries. It's not anything relating to Apple or the technology, but to the simple fact that lithium ion batteries lose their capacity over time - and not that much time. My newest Li-Ion battery is only about three months old and is already down about 10% in peak capacity. That battery is a replacement for a 1-year-old battery that is down to about 40% of its original capacity. I follow all the manufacturer's tips to maintain my batteries, but heavy use wears them out, and there is no way (yet) to avoid that.

Will I buy the MacBook Air? Soon, but not yet. I got badly burned with three successive defective Rev. A MacBooks, and after that experience, I will never again buy Rev. A of anything until its been on the market for at least six months.

After that, yes, absolutely. I've been waiting a long time for an ultraportable Mac, since the Duo went away. I was and remain a huge fan of the 12" PowerBook, though I never considered it (at 4.6 lb.) a true member of the club.

The MacBook Air will let me (finally) have a modern Mac that doesn't weigh me down and allows me to enjoy all of the goodness of OS X without having lug the kitchen sink around for the ride.

Yeah, I will definitely get (a Rev B) one of these.